The New Orleans Pelicans made sure that the Golden State Warriors are not going up 3-0 in the two teams’ Western Conference semifinals series by scoring a 119-100 win over the defending champions Friday night. Rajon Rondo played his part in that, thanks to putting up the most Rondo-like stat sheet in the history of Rajon Rondo.
Anthony Davis put up a monster double-double of 33 points and 18 rebounds. Davis performance was hard to top, but Rondo probably did just that as he stitched together 10 rebounds and a dizzying total of 21 assists. He scored just four points, but he was instrumental in helping the Pelicans score their most points in the series thus far.
With his 21 helpers, Rondo now joins the exclusive group of Magic Johnson and John Stockton as the only three players in NBA history to record at least 20 assists in a playoff game.
Players in NBA history with multiple 20-assist playoff games (per @bball_ref):
Magic Johnson
John Stockton
Rajon Rondo— Thomas Duffy (@TJDhoops) May 5, 2018
Dishing out 21 assists in a game is not an easy feat, but Rondo is definitely one of the few players today most capable of accomplishing such a towering feat. Behind Rondo’s table-setting, the Pelicans were able to flummox Golden State’s defense. The Pelicans made 48 field goals on 36 assists. They also shot more 3-pointers than Golden State (14-9) and outscored the Warriors in the paint (54-36).
Rajon Rondo has taken his playmaking skills to the next level in this postseason. Through the Pelicans’ first seven games in the playoffs, Rondo failed to record double-digit assists in a game just once when he had nine in Game 2 of the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers.
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